FIRED UP: In a reminder to Democrats that their base is salivating over the prospect of a win on health care reform, the DCCC reaped its biggest return on an email appeal this year after blasting out a missive yesterday from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Her pitch: "The Republicans have embarked on a desperate last-ditch effort to kill health insurance reform by shouting as loud as they can and spending as much as they can in this final push. Their misleading attacks cannot be the last word as the House prepares to vote." The response from recipients topped 2010's previous record in five hours.

As Newt Gingrich sticks up for Robert Bennett, the president and vice president plan two new campaign trips and our panel of House race veterans gauges the state of play on health care, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily cheat sheet for the 2010 midterm elections.

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CROSSFIRE -- FROM THE RIGHT: The NRCC's next two ads in the health care air war are set to drop on Nevada Rep. Dina Titus and California Rep. Dennis Cardoza, an official told Morning Score. Cardoza's supporting the bill, but Republicans think he's open to attack as a member of the in-the-weeds Rules Committee. Titus's Republican opponent, former state Sen. Joe Heck, is a doctor by training who could effectively pick up a message on the issue. The ads are airing on cable in Sacramento (for Cardoza) and Las Vegas (for Titus) over the next week.

AND FROM THE LEFT: The politics of the health care vote is tough for all Democratic members, but Mike McMahon may be in a special category. By angering the left with a possible "no" vote, McMahon has tempted a Democratic or third-party challenger -- and prompted Republicans to take another look at the race. Republicans have approached state Sen. Andrew Lanza about challenging McMahon, though the state legislator doesn't sound likely to run.

Also under fire from the Democratic base: New York's Michael Arcuri, who now has SEIU ads running in his district pressuring him to vote "yes" on health care, and Michigan's Bart Stupak, whose primary challenger picked up an endorsement Wednesday from the National Organization for Women. NOW President Terry O'Neill told POLITICO Wednesday her group will rally behind former Charlevoix County Commissioner Connie Saltonstall because "Bart Stupak, colluding with the Catholic bishops, is trying to shut down women's access to a very important form of health care." http://bit.ly/9F71pI and http://bit.ly/aPoVD7

NOT REASSURING: Public Policy Polling released a survey showing Republicans with a lead in the national generic House ballot. According to PPP -- which Republicans often complain leans Democratic -- the GOP has a three-point edge over Democrats, 46 percent to 43 percent. Among independents, that lead is a more imposing 44 percent to 26 percent. The pollster says support for health care reform is at a higher-than-usual level, but it's still a net negative: 49 percent of respondents oppose the president's health care proposals while 45 percent back them. (Read on for our House race experts' take on what the national playing field on health care means for Democrats.)

POSTER BOY: The DNC circulated a memo yesterday to Democratic lawmakers, committee staff and strategists urging them to highlight the New York Times's profile of Mitch McConnell that depicted the Senate minority leader as a maestro of obstruction. Carl Hulse and Adam Nagourney quoted McConnell earlier this week saying he was determined to keep Republican support from health care reform legislation because "if the proponents of the bill were able to say it was bipartisan, it tended to convey to the public that this is O.K." In an "interested parties" message that a Democratic source shared with Morning Score, DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse pointed to the report and instructed Democrats: "We can remind the public and press that Republicans have constantly moved the goal posts, ground the process to a halt and done so for no other reason than their own political gain. The next time Mitch McConnell or any other Republican goes on television and laments the tone in Washington or how Washington works, we can point to this story, and tell them to look in the mirror."

SPEAKING OF MCCONNELL: POLITICO's Jonathan Martin reports the Senate Republican leader has worries outside Washington these days, in the form of Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul. Martin writes: "A win by Paul, a Bowling Green ophthalmologist, would represent the first true electoral success of the tea party movement. Equally important, it would embarrass Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose political organization is running Grayson’s campaign, thrust onto the national stage a Republican with foreign policy views out of the conservative mainstream and, strategists in both parties believe, imperil the GOP’s hold on the seat now held by retiring Sen. Jim Bunning. ... 'I believe what you're seeing in Kentucky and across the country is a lot of energy on our side and a lot of optimism about changing the equation around here next November,' McConnell said at a news conference this week. But asked why he thought Paul was leading, the senator responded with a deadpan reminder that there was time left. 'The election in Kentucky is May 18,' he said."

FAST ATTACK: Days after Pennsylvania's filing deadline, some campaigns are trying to knock their opponents out of the box by challenging the validity of their petitions for ballot access. Rep. Joe Sestak is challenging little-known Senate candidate Joseph Vodvarka's right to appear on the Democratic primary ballot, claiming Vodvarka doesn't have enough valid signatures to compete with Sestak and incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter. In the governor's race, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato challenged Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel's nominating petitions for the Democratic primary. And Democratic state Rep. Bryan Lentz, who's running to succeed Sestak in the House, is alleging that Republican former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan's filings were so wracked with fraud that his candidacy may be invalid. Ballot challenges are a fairly standard campaign practice, but all of them (especially the last two) could have real consequences if they come through. http://bit.ly/bGQRZz and http://bit.ly/auyaQE and http://bit.ly/bpOgna

ON THE ROAD: President Obama and Vice President Biden are hitting the road for two more campaigns in April. It was reported Wednesday that Obama will travel to Los Angeles next month to raise money for Sen. Barbara Boxer's reelection bid, and Biden will visit Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley on April 15 to support Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan's campaign to unseat Rep. Charlie Dent. Biden was involved in recruiting Callahan for the race and, as you may have heard, originally hails from the Keystone State. http://bit.ly/ccxX9s and http://bit.ly/aFqRb9

SCOREKEEPERS -- HEALTH CARE EDITION: We asked Morning Score's panel of House race experts to weigh in on the final days of wrangling over health care and rate how vulnerable Democrats are handling themselves in the face of an electorally risky decision. Returning to Morning Score are former DCCC Chairman Martin Frost, former DCCC executive directors Karin Johanson and Brian Wolff, California Rep. and NRCC recruitment chair Kevin McCarthy, Oklahoma Rep. and former NRCC Chairman Tom Cole and former NRCC spokesman Carl Forti. Joining the program for the first time as a Scorekeeper is former NRCC Chairman Tom Davis.

Our question: Which vulnerable members of Congress are playing their cards right on health care? If a bill passes, how would a smart member of your party play that news?

TOM DAVIS: "The people who put themselves in the most jeopardy are clearly those who change their votes from 'no' to 'yes.' ... It makes it look like the leadership leaned on you. It's a very tough vote. Those who move from 'yes' to 'no,' I don't know what it buys them, in the scheme of things. ... It's not an easy vote for Democrats, whatever they do, because it's an off year and they need their base, and they're either angering their base by voting 'no' or turning off independents by voting 'aye.' This is what we call the classical no-win vote, politically. ... This is where the Democrats' members need to look in the mirror and ask if this is the right thing to do."

BRIAN WOLFF: "'Vulnerable' members that are playing their cards right are analyzing carefully and are communicating and hearing from their districts ahead of the vote. These members should keep in mind that in November they will still have a (D) behind their name. As much as you think you can localize your election ... history tells us that rarely has ever worked when you have a landmark piece of legislation that clearly 'nationalizes' the election. Clearly, a vulnerable incumbent can communicate from now until November who this bill helps and why and how it's 'historic' in that the 'status quo' was defeated."

CARL FORTI: "I think those like Altmire who are on TV saying, I don't like the back door process, my constituents don't like the process, are winning. Those who have remained undecided are winners, especially if there winds up not being a vote. They withstood the pressure to take a 'yes' position and may be rewarded by not having the up-or-down vote. Democrats know if they get this passed, it will never get repealed, because by the time the Republicans control every branch in order to repeal it people will be dependent on it, yet it will be costing us billions."

MARTIN FROST: "My personal experience representing a moderate Southern district was that some people who are opposed to your views will cut you some slack if they feel you are sincere and that you have well thought-out reasons for your vote. If you are from a tough district and can't make a compelling case defending a 'yes' vote, then you should vote 'no.' Voters are pretty smart. They know when someone is shooting straight with them. The worst thing you can do is to attempt to defend an unpopular vote without conviction. But if you truly believe health care is vital to our country, this is one vote you should be willing to risk your career on."

KEVIN MCCARTHY: "Vulnerable members who ultimately vote 'no' at least show they are listening. ... Process matters here since it underscores the bad policy. So if they vote for this bill (or the procedural ploy), they are voting to say that they are 'Washington,' plain and simple. Not a good label in an anti-incumbent year, especially when historic wave elections show voting 'yes' on bad bills increases an incumbent's chances of losing (i.e. 1994). It will be the symbolic albatross around their necks; voting 'yes' on this health care bill for a vulnerable Member could be the equivalent of the 'stimulus hug' in the Florida primary."

KARIN JOHANSON: "Assuming the bill is going to pass, this is one of those rare votes that members will discuss and defend for as long as they serve. Members need to be comfortable with their decision. Smart but vulnerable Democrats who vote in favor should cast themselves as listening to voters and courageously doing the right thing. Tell stories of individual people the bill will help, remind everyone how insurance premiums have skyrocketed, focus on elimination of pre-existing condition requirements! As time goes on, that this was the right vote will become more apparent."

TOM COLE: "The conservative Democrats who vote 'no' will save themselves and the Democratic majority -- if it can be saved. If a bill passes, the GOP will benefit enormously. The Democrats then own the most unpopular program in history. They will be punished severely for backing such an unpopular bill."

THE BIG MAP -- with POLITICO's Tim Alberta:

SENATE:

WASHINGTON -- GOING LIVE: Businessman and motivational speaker Chris Widener plans to launch a new website designed to draw attention to his campaign against Democratic Sen. Patty Murray Thursday. The site -- http://www.notpatty.com/ -- attacks the senator's record on health care, the national debt and local issues such as Boeing contracts, and in an accompanying release Widener will say Murray has "failed to deliver on behalf of the people she represents." One of the architects behind the site is Cyrus Krohn, the former eCampaign director of the RNC.

ARKANSAS: Is Bill Halter's high school coach the new version of Sen. Scott Brown's truck? The Democrat's latest ad features his old coach calling for a "new playbook" for Arkansas and spotlights three accountability-themed pledges Halter's been emphasizing: not taking salary hikes while in office, holding annual town hall meetings in every Arkansas county and not becoming a lobbyist.

CONNECTICUT: Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon now holds a 10-point lead over former Rep. Rob Simmons in the Republican Senate primary, according to Quinnipiac. McMahon's been the only candidate advertising in the race and the Simmons camp expects her edge to subside as she starts receiving more serious scrutiny.

FLORIDA: Marco Rubio's campaign is embracing a conservative hero of the health care debate Thursday, holding a tele-town hall with Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan to talk about the issue. Rubio's been gathering signatures for a "Scrap It" petition against health care reform.

MORE FLORIDA: Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek, running for Senate in a state with a large, Democratic-leaning Jewish population, criticized the Obama administration yesterday for its recent rebukes of Israel. "What started off as an internal, domestic disagreement within the Israeli government has turned into an unnecessary international dispute complicated by some undiplomatic language from U.S. administration officials," Meek said.

ILLINOIS: White House senior adviser David Axelrod chided Rep. Mark Kirk, his home state's Republican Senate candidate, yesterday, after Kirk vowed to "lead the effort" to repeal any health care reform bill that's enacted. Axelrod told the Chicago Sun-Times: "Given the great challenges America, and families across Illinois face today, the last thing we need is another Republican Senator in Washington who is more focused on tearing down the President than he is on solving problems."

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Former state Sen. Bruce Keough is joining businessman Bill Binnie's campaign as its new chairman, the Union Leader reports, taking on an "operational and organizational" role. Keough was his party's nominee for governor in 2002 and lends credibility to Binnie's outsider campaign.

HOUSE:

HI-01: The Hawaii State Teachers Association endorsed Democratic state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa's campaign for the vacant House seat of former Rep. Neil Abercrombie. HSTA President Wil Okabe said of Hanabusa: "There are differences in some of her views, but we feel that she's able to listen."

KS-04: Republican state Sen. Dick Kelsey, who dropped out of the race to succeed Rep. Todd Tiahrt due to his wife's health, endorsed businessman Mike Pompeo in the GOP's House primary. Kelsey backed his former rival, saying Pompeo would "work hard to restore our economy."

MI-05: Bart Stupak isn't the only Michigan Democrat catching heat over his position on health care and abortion. After Rep. Dale Kildee, an anti-abortion Democrat, broke with Stupak to endorse the health care legislation before the House, the Susan B. Anthony List pledged to use "all the resources available to ensure each voter in ... Michigan's fifth district knows exactly what Congressman Kildee has done." Not in a good way.

NY-29: Corning Mayor Tom Reed has an original idea for financing a special election in Eric Massa's old district: make Massa pay for it! The Republican congressional candidate argues that an election would cost about $700,000, and Massa had $644,000 in the bank at the end of 2009. "He caused the need for a special election, he should pay for it," Reed said.

PA-07: Former news anchor Dawn Stensland didn't file for Congress as a Republican, but that doesn't mean she's decided against a House bid altogether. Pa2010.com reports that Stensland is "seriously considering" a third-party run, which would require her to collect more than 4,000 signatures to get on the ballot."

TN-08: Even as the NRCC hammers away at Democratic state Sen. Roy Herron's voting record on taxes, Herron's congressional campaign is proudly advertising the legislator's opposition to a state income tax. "Every time a state income tax proposal has come before Herron, he has voted against it," the campaign declared.

VA-11: Republican Keith Fimian is catching some heat for his first radio spot against Rep. Gerry Connolly this cycle. Fimian's ad attacks Connolly on the issue of earmarks and quotes the congressman saying: "I want to be there with all four paws and snout in the trough." The problem is: Connolly said those words in the context of mocking Republican Whip Eric Cantor on the stimulus.

GOVERNORS:

CALIFORNIA: Republican Meg Whitman holds a three-point lead over Democrat Jerry Brown in a general election match-up, according to the Field Poll. The former eBay CEO has a 46 percent to 43 percent advantage over Brown. Whitman has been advertising for her Republican primary fight, which could account for her early edge, but the poll suggests she'll be a formidable opponent for Brown in the fall.

GEORGIA: Former Gov. Roy Barnes is the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for governor, but Republican strategist Mark Rountree recently laid out the case that state Attorney General Thurbert Baker could feasibly snatch his party's nod away from Barnes. "Baker has a significant base vote among the majority demographic of the Democratic primary," Rountree wrote. "If African-American voters simply decide they want an African-American nominee who could run on an ethics message, then he'll be the nominee regardless of what Barnes does."

NEVADA: Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval is touting his extensive resume in a new 60-second radio spot, pointing out that the former state attorney general is also "the first federal judge in Nevada history to give up a lifetime appointment to run for governor."

MICHIGAN: Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, one of the Democrats' top candidates for governor, has asked his campaign treasurer to step down due to personal tax problems. Charles Moore owes more than $90,000 in delinquent taxes on 22 rental properties he owns.

NEW YORK: Gov. David Paterson has lost yet another staffer -- this time it's press secretary Marissa Shorenstein, who reportedly intervened in the domestic violence case involving Paterson aide David Johnson. "Due to circumstances that have led to my unwitting involvement in recent news stories, I can no longer do my job effectively," Shorenstein explained.

ALSO IN NEW YORK: State GOP Chairman Ed Cox's interest in recruiting a party-switching Democrat, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, to run for governor has drawn a harsh rebuke from the RNC. The New York Post reports that national Republicans have warned Cox they won't send him financial resources if Levy tops the Republican ticket.

2012:

NEWT IN UTAH: Newt Gingrich has cut an ad for Utah Sen. Robert Bennett, who faces several conservative primary challengers in his fight for reelection. In the spot, Gingrich says Bennett is "leading the charge to defeat Obamacare," adding: "In fact, Bob Bennett fought every step of the way to defeat the Obama agenda." Mitt Romney is also supporting Bennett.

BACK TO MICHIGAN: Sarah Palin is headed to the Defending the American Dream Summit in Michigan's Oakland County this spring. The former Alaska governor will address the conference on May 1, Americans for Prosperity's state chapter announced.

About The Author

Alexander Burns is a senior political reporter for POLITICO. During the 2012 campaign, he co-authored POLITICO’s Burns and Haberman blog, which was widely recognized as one of the authoritative resources on the presidential election. Prior to that, Burns created the daily Morning Score political tip sheet and edited the POLITICO44 page. A graduate of Harvard College, where he edited the Harvard Political Review, Burns has appeared on television and radio as a political analyst and has been a guest speaker at New York University, the University of Kansas’s Dole Institute and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics, among other schools.